Although many shaped shells are used in bakery products, as for instance in tarts, pastries, and the like, they are made from unleavened dough. Shells of unleavened dough are ordinarily fragile, easily broken, and do not have the texture and hence the taste experience of leavened dough.
Leavened dough ordinarily is allowed to rise in a pan which determines its final shape, or in the case of pizza crusts, it is allowed to rise and then flattened to its final shape, after which it is baked, or partially baked. The shaping or molding of leavened dough into cup-shaped shells, especially partially baked shells, presents several problems.
Shells for hors d'oeuvres are usually flat. One pizza snack product currently on the market is made by cutting pizza crusts into small, circular, flat shells to which are applied pizza topping materials and other condiments. The topping, however, is spilled readily from the flat shells during handling. Moreover, upon final baking, as preparatory to serving, the topping materials, such as cheese, tend to run over the edge of the shells and stick to the pan. Moreover, the amounts and types of topping materials that can be supported by a small flat shell, as opposed to a concave shell, is limited.
The food industry is interested in making and selling snack foods having attractive taste, appearance, and texture. Although pizza is a popular food item, it is usually made and sold in sizes large enough to provide a complete meal, and it is desirable to make pizza in snack food sizes, particularly on a commercial scale, and yet to reduce the problems associated with making, as well as using, the small pizza shells.